1. Field of the Invention
The device is used in the mussel aquaculture farming industry. In general the concept is a support device that attaches to a vertical attachment means which; mussels cling on to grow.
2. Background of the Invention
The mussel farming industry has developed techniques of culturing and harvesting mussels. One such method is to hang substantially vertical seed collector cords or lines below the surface of the ocean. The lines are about eight to twenty feet in length and after mussels give spawn, the small larval seed mussels attach to the lines to grow. After several months the seed mussels will grow in dense clusters along the lines. When there is not sufficient space on the lines for the mussels to adequately grow further (the seed mussels are about 5 mm-30 mm in length), the mussel farmer will withdraw the seed collector lines from the ocean and separate the seed mussels from the collector line.
At this point the seed or juvenile mussels are injected into a mesh tubing and reinserted back into the ocean. The mesh tubing is made from a web netting material that radially expands to a larger circumference. The mesh tubing provides more surface area for the seed mussels to cling thereon and it will support the mussels as they grow in size and grow through the mesh to a size of several inches long. As the mussels grow; they move radially outwardly through the mesh tubing in order to be able to open their valves and gather plankton from the seawater. As they increase in size the mussels rely on the mesh tubing and also the mussels below them for support. The mussels eventually are attached to the outside of the mesh tubing and as they grow larger they will rest upon the mussel immediately below them and that mussel will be partially supported by the mussel below it. If some of the supporting mussels loses their foothold from the mesh tubing a catastrophic collapse can occur where strips of mussels fall from the mesh tubing to the floor of the ocean bay and are unharvestable at that point.
To prevent the catastrophic loss of mussels, support rods have been used. The support rods were essentially a stick or peg about eight inches long that stuck through the diameter of the web tubing. When the seed mussels are inserted into the mesh tubing and placed back into the ocean, a support rod was placed between the holes in the mesh about every 12-18 inches along the eight to the entire length of mesh tubing. When the support rods where inserted into the mesh they had two extensions that extended out opposite sides of the mesh. The support rods did supply some support for the mussels that were directly above each extension of a rod; however, the support rods only had limited surface area in the horizontal plane and mussels that were ninety degrees from each extension of the support rods received no direct support from the support rod, support was only from those mussels adjacent to the mesh tubing.
3. Background Art
A search to the prior art has revealed numerous embodiments in the area of aquatic culture harvesting. A brief summary of the patents that resulted in a patentability search is listed below.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,653,193 Marissal, shows a mollusk raising system in which support trays 30, are supported in net tubes 24. The tubes with the included platforms are suspended in the water.
The invention is primarily directed to growing oysters within the net 24. As seen in FIG. 2 the tray 30 is positioned within the net 24 and can be held therein by a number of attachment means which are shown in FIGS. 6-14.
As seen in FIGS. 16 and 17, the rope 62 extends through the apertures 40 which are located at the edge portions of the disc 30 (see FIG. 2). The blocking element 63 which fits into the frustoconical aperture 40 is best seen in FIG. 17, where the lugs 76 are adapted to engage the rope 62.
FIGS. 18-20 shows another fastening method where the rapid fastener 84 serves as a means to secure the tray 30 to the netting 24 where FIG. 18 is a side elevational view of the edge portions of the tray 16 which is shown in FIG. 6. Apparently, the cord is wrapped around the netting and the annular groove 16 of the tray 30 and the cord ends 81 and 82 are positioned in the locking semi shells 86 and 88 of the rapid fastener 84 (see FIG. 19).
U.S. Pat. No. 5,515,813 Wilkerson, shows a series of growth plates 12, that may be stacked and with a mesh cover that is placed over the plates.
As seen in FIG. 3,the aquatic cultivator 12 has a bore 32 which allows a tether line or cable 20 to pass therethrough. As seen in FIG. 7, apparently the aquatic cultivator 12 is held in place by putting a knot 22 in the line 20.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,511,514 Hichins et al, shows a system in which shellfish which do not attach to support means are raised in the same housing with the shellfish have attached. There is a rope 5 and an outer mesh housing tube that holds shellfish that can secure themselves to the rope and shellfish who can not secure themselves to the rope.
The description discloses a method of cultivating juvenile shellfish that are passed from a hopper 2 into the stocking 4. The culture rope 5 supports the structure and is apparently tied off at the lower portion.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,594,965 Asher et al, show a means for carrying out in the aquaculture in which there is a tube 31, and a series of dividers 32 that create growing chambers 33. The patent relates to the use of electric fields in the system.
As seen in FIG. 1 the fence 11 carries an electric potential to ward off unwanted marine life. The conduit 12, as seen in FIG. 2, is made from a flexible material and contains a plurality of tubes 14-18 therein. Each of these tubes 14-18 caring different amounts of nutrients which are described in column 3, lines 10+.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,741,159 Halaunbrenner, shows a series of baskets that are joined and hung under water for the growth of shellfish.
As seen in FIG. 3, the baskets float and are held down by weights 29. As seen in FIGS. 6-7, the pots 40 are placed in compartments 41 of the baskets 11-14.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,572,292 Quayle et al, shows a series of platforms or oyster bed clutches that are in the form of disc like elements that are secured in a series a line 34, such as shown in FIGS. 6, and 7.
As seen in FIG. 7 the clutch 10 is supported by the base portion 39 which is rigidly attached to the rope 34. The clutches are positioned so that the clutch immediately above and below each clutch is 90 degrees in the horizontal plane (see 11a in FIG. 7).
FIG. 6 shows the clutches stacked in a manner where they are all in the same relative orientation and the knobs 30 and 31 provide separation.
U.S. Pat. No. 249,942 Hughes, shows an oyster raising system in which a scow, with adjustable buoyancy, is provided with slats xe2x80x9cFxe2x80x9d, that support layers of oysters, so the bottom layers are not crushed.
The background art fails to disclose a support structure that can be retrofitted to existing cultivating nets where proper support is provided for aquatic mussels so that you not become this attached from the net and hence is not retrievable for the aquatic farmer.
The invention relates to an improved method and device to give support to aquacultured mussels that are clinging to a mesh tubing, rope or similar structure. In general the device (herein referred to the xe2x80x98mussel supportxe2x80x99, xe2x80x98support structurexe2x80x99, xe2x80x98mussel support structure xe2x80x99or xe2x80x98mussel support discxe2x80x99) comprises a support portion, a clearance gap and a support extension. The support portion is a circular shape in the preferred embodiment (however it could be square, rectangular etc.) and covers more surface area in the horizontal plane to provide adequate support for growing aquatic mussels. The clearance gap is of sufficient tangential width to allow the support portion to be substantially concentric with the mesh tubing. The support extension is positioned in the clearance gap and is designed to extend through the mesh tubing and support the entire mussel support structure in a specific location along the length of mesh tubing. In the preferred form, the support extension has locking teeth that allow for easy insertion into the mesh and not easily removed.